Knights of Drakon
by Pat1313
Summary: This is my first fanfiction-spinoff about a group of outlaws adventuring across the galaxy
1. Prelude

The crew of the LF Drakonan piled into the cockpit of the small freighter, the nine man crew struggling to avoid jostling one another with every slight vibration of the ship as it hurtled toward the desert planet below. The crew stood huddled near the doorway shoulder to shoulder except for the man captaining the ship, Ely, whose eyes never left the planetary surface below, and Azalin, the tall alien man with the regal face accentuated by his piercing red eyes and horn protruding from his temples, sitting in the copilots chair, however unlike the man beside him he turns to face the remaining crew. "Does everybody understand what we're here to do?" He asked the group at large. Nothing but solemn silence replied to him, they had been preparing for this for the better part of a month they were all well aware of what their mission was down on the surface. "Then load up we'll be landing in a few minutes"

As the last of the crew shuffle out the cockpit, Azalin turns to Ely and asks,  
"Do you think we can pull this off?"  
"Let's hope so otherwise I doubt we'll be leaving here with our heads" was the reply that greeted him.

The remaining seven members of the crew ran around the ship in complete disarray trying to locate discarded blasters, explosives, and even articles of clothing from rooms and storage compartments all while dancing around one another hoping to avoid accidentally shooting or detonating one another at every turn. The plan had been meticulously laid out and scouted, while the inner organization of the ship left a lot to be desired. The crew came to a halt in their preparations when the ship gave a violent shudder as it finally touched down on the surface. A collective shudder went through the crew as the ramp dropped and the harsh sand from the unforgiving surface of Varadan blew up into the ship, the planning was over their mission began now.


	2. Chapter 1

Everard, the youngest member of the crew, was trying to keep his hands from shaking when the door of the freighter opened. Want him to steal from a corporate business lord in some stuffy high-priced casino? Sure. Want him to steal a speeder from some hot shot pod racer? Hell that was every other day back on Nar Shaddaa. However, the thought of stealing an armed, pissed off intergalactic space pirate, made him feel like his heart was trying to leap out of his chest, presumably so it could avoid being riddled with blaster fire like the rest of him was likely to be. "Hey!" he heard right as a heavy hand smacked against his shoulder, tearing him away from his own thoughts. He looked up to see Issei, a relatively human looking young man with red tinged black hair, except with a tail and large animal-esque ears staring down at him.

"You're not getting cold feet over here are you?" Issei asked with a grin. Everard chuckles while rising to his feet until reaching a height just past that of Issei's, "Heh I can't do that, who else would bother saving your sorry ass?" Everard joked back. Though he could often be overbearing Everard was grateful for Issei's levity in that moment. That was until a maternal voice rang out, "Would you two behave and finish getting ready?!" a short woman of the same species as Issei with vivid pink hair, chastised from near the exit. "Sorry Raven" the young men said in unison. "Showtime kiddies" Azalin called as he exited the cockpit, flanked by a nearly identical man, with silver hair named Rikki. "Everard you're with me and Rikki come on." Everard trying to hold himself together quickly checked to make sure he hadn't forgotten his blaster, unfortunately that wouldn't have been the first time, then he followed the two men down the steps to take his first steps on Varadan.

Everard had a sudden flashback to his childhood as he quickly found he had to halfheartedly jog to keep up with the brisk pace of the two significantly taller men. The other members were filing out of the ship in their respective teams behind them and he could hear stifled snickers as they watched him struggle to keep up, Issei however wasn't trying too hard to hide his. Everard made a silent promise to shoot him off into space after this. While he had never set foot in this system there was an air of familiarity for him on the surface. On their way to the local Womp-Rat Cantina he passed the same sights he'd seen on every other planet of scum he'd called home at one point or another. Drunken brawls, young women and men selling their various services, and incredibly shady looking exchanges happening out in the open with complete disregard for who might see. Everard's hand subconsciously drifted to the grip of his blaster, Azalin noticed this and said, "Stop that, we're trying to blend in here." "I thought actually blasting somebody might give us a bit more street cred." he retorted. "Cute. Now shut up" Azalin replied in a very final manner. Everard had never seen Azalin so focused before, then again they had never pulled anything this dangerous before. As they walked closer and closer to the cantina the other teams sounded off via the communication devices in their ears once they had reached their designated locations. Tye and Issei were the first to sound off as they reached their choke point, followed shortly by Raven and Jen as they reached a vantage point at the top of the inn nearest to the cantina. Everard knew that's where Jen would be setting up her A295 sniper with Raven hanging back as both the medic and spotter. Their presence out of sight gave the crew the element of surprise and Everard peace of mind.

They finally reached the cantina with everyone in one piece, which was a genuine shock to Everard's system. He had fully expected to have gone horrendously wrong before they ever reached this point, but so far so good. "Alright, I'm going in you two wait here and try to stay out of trouble" Azalin said to the pair of them, his eyes lingering on Everard as he said the last part. Everard tried to return his look conveying both innocence and reassurance, but he had a sinking suspicion the blend of emotions there might've looked like fear. After Azalin went into the cantina, Rikki and Everard sat in the alley they had come from doing their best to look like the many shady locals patrolling the streets. Every so often they would trade credits back and forth to give the illusion they were making deals. Everard was getting more and more nervous with every moment that went by. The thought of Azalin completely alone in a crowded cantina with incredibly dangerous criminals on a lawless planet, was just enough to put Everard's teeth on edge. However, after several hours Azalin comes out hanging all over a man who could only be Druk Dreiza, the crew's favorite space pirate and mark. Everard couldn't believe their luck for a second, Azalin had somehow managed to lure a completely intoxicated and isolated pirate out into their ambush alone. Everard wasn't sure if Azalin was actually drunk, but if he wasn't he was one hell of an actor, as he seemed hardly able to walk without the support of the pirate. Then, very suddenly Everard sees Azalin's demeanor change as he leads the pirate across the road to the alley, his grip tightens on the pirate and he stands almost completely upright as his hand moves down under his cloak around his waist then back against the pirate. Druk was clearly aware that a blaster was pressed against his back as his jovial grin he'd had seconds before, hardened into anger. Azalin briskly marched the pirate across the street, Everard could feel himself relaxing this was going far better than anticipated, that's when all of hell broke loose, naturally. Once Azalin got within a couple feet the cantina door burst open with an inquisitive "Boss!?" accompanying it as two more pirates came out the cantina looking around. "HERE!" Druk screamed just before Azalin slammed the butt of his pistol against his head. Rikki and Everard moved as one to close the gap between Azalin and his incredibly dazed captive, drawing their weapons as they moved. One of the pirates ducked back inside the cantina, presumably calling for help, while the other drew his blaster and began to take aim at them. Everard shot first, sending a blaster bolt across the street towards the pirate. His aim was true and the bolt burned its way through the chest of the pirate, he fell down in a lump flat on his face. Dead. Everard was stunned, he'd committed dozens of crimes, but never killed anyone. The fact that this was a lowlife gangster didn't even begin to register in this moment the only thing going through his head was that he had just taken the life of another living thing. Rikki dragged him out of his daze, literally pulling him down the alley by the back of his vest. He turned and ran past, calling out over the radio frequency for Raven and Jen to fall back to meet up with Issei and Tye instead of waiting at their vantage/fall back point. He dared a glance behind him right as a blaster bolt flew over his shoulder, the pirates were filing out of the cantina, Everard quickly counted eight giving chase, blaster blazing, with more joining by the moment. Thankfully they had gotten a good headstart that the majority of their shots weren't even in the same vicinity as Rikki and him. However, one found its mark and he felt a scorching pain in his left shoulder. He was hit and the pain made him stagger, Rikki once again noticing his partner falling behind, yelled, "Everard's hit" ahead to Azalin who was guiding the pirate at a full sprint at blaster point. Azalin changed directions, ducking down an off-street and Rikki once again pulled Everard as his leg nearly buckled out from under him, dazed in pain down the same street. They zigzagged, taking streets at what Everard assumed was random for a few more minutes and actually managed to reach the rendezvous point with the other four. By this point Rikki was nearly dragging him, he'd been so dazed by the initial pain when his leg buckled he assumed that's all it was, however, the others noticed he'd been shot in his right leg as well. Rikki passed him off to Issei and Tye as they supported him and continued their way to the ship. The remaining crew sprinted off leaving Issei and Tye to support Everard and Rikki to guard their rear should the pirates find them again. Through his daze Everard couldn't shake the feeling he was going to be the reason he and everyone he loves end up dead on this waste of a planet. Every movement made Everard grimace, the farther they went he put more and more weight on the two men supporting him all while Rikki with his blaster rifle drawn scanning their surroundings for any sign of hostiles. Everard kept expecting at any moment to hear the excited shouts of pirates and see a hail of blaster fire that would be the last thing he ever saw, but they moved along quietly with no pirates in sight, just the occasional passerby. Until they heard a loud whoop off to the right, Everard managed to look and see three pirates spilling into the street preparing to shoot. Everard closed his eyes and said, "Leave me", then he heard the blaster fire. Remarkably seconds past yet he didn't appear to be hit again, he opened his eyes and saw Rikki standing in front of their little trio with his blaster smoking and three dead pirates roughly twenty feet away. Everard made a sound halfway between a laugh and a scream then collapsed, his vision going dark.


	3. Chapter 2: Resistance

Everard woke up, jerking awake to the familiar gentle hum of the LF Drakon. As he looked around recognizing his quarters that had evidently been used as an impromptu medical bay while he was out. He didn't necessarily keep his room the cleanest on the ship, but he could say with confidence there was not a whole host of medical supplies including different syringes and bandages scattered at his desk before he left. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and glanced down at the bacta patch that was stuck on the calf of his injured leg. He chuckled, mentally saying his thanks for Raven before attempting to stand up. His body was sore and standing up strained his muscles, but he was able to get upright, that is until he took a step and crashed to the ground holding his leg. It took him a few minutes of swearing, stumbling, falling, and yelling for help, but he was able to get back to his feet and with the assistance of a cane left near his bed he was able to take a few uneasy steps. He walked into the main area of the ship ready to express his annoyance with his friends for listening to him struggle in there shouting, "You guys are..." he trailed off as he cleared the corner and found the room empty. He conducted the galaxy's slowest search room by room, checking each crew members quarters and finding each one empty. In a panic he made his way to the back of the ship and heard the faint hum of the ray shield as he approached the waste disposal. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the pirate fast asleep mumbling to himself still detained. They had decided the waste disposal with its ray shield that protected the rest of the ship from being sucked into space when it was opened would make a decent holding cell until they reached their contact. With the prisoner still securely stored away Everard went back into his room to put on his actual clothes as the only thing he was wearing was a pair of shorts and whatever patches he had on his body. He struggled mightily trying to put his clothes on but with his familiar blue vest back on he felt a sense of calm wash over him, that and strapping his A180 blaster back to his right hip. He started to make his way to the cockpit to check if maybe they were meeting in there, they definitely should've heard his flailing though so he approached warily. He was just reaching the hallway connecting the main room to the cockpit when he heard a high pitched beep and saw a little R9 unit come rolling around the corner knocking the cane out of his left hand and sending him crashing to the ground once again as it went. Through much griping and many beeped apologies he was able to make it to his feet again with the cane back in his hand. "What's wrong with you R9?" He panted, as the cane fiasco really took a lot out of him. The little droid launched into a flurry of beeps and whistles, and Everard being new to the crew and very little exposure to astromechs before didn't quite get what he was saying, he roughly understood there was trouble in the cockpit, so he told the droid to come with him and they'd check it out. He hobbled his way into the cockpit and found it as empty as the rest of the ship. However, R9's beeps became more frequent. He was starting to get annoyed with the droid when he heard Azalin's voice come through his comm link that was laying on the ships flight controls saying, "We had a deal!"

Everard looked through the cockpit window and felt his heart leap into his throat and his blood run cold. He found his friends standing unarmed along with two people he'd never seen before in the hangar of an imperial cruiser, with an imperial captain in front holding his blaster pistol pointed directly at Azalin's face. He was flanked by four stormtroopers in black armor with the imperial mark blazing in red on their chests and helmets, their blaster rifles glinted like their armor as they were pointed at the rest of his friends. He heard the oily voice of the captain come over the intercom, "Well you see this way the empire wipes out a pirate and prevents another group of smugglers from becoming a nuisance in one single stroke." Everard knew he had to act so he belted orders to the droid making concerned beeps behind. "R9 activate the ships cannons and take aim behind the imperials, on my signal radio in to the others and tell them to get out the way and then fire." The droid gave several excited beeps at the idea of operating the cannons and perhaps would've caused Everard to rethink his plan if he'd had any other choice. He raced, or briskly hobbled down the corridor towards the entrance of the ship. As he went he could hear Azalin trying to talk his way out of trouble with the captain, who seemed to be listening mainly out of a cruel sense of amusement rather than any actual interest in Azalin's proposal. He was just about to hit the button to lower the steps as he heard R9 beep over the comm link telling the others to duck "Damn impatient droid" he muttered to himself as he slammed his fist against the button, drawing his blaster as the steps swiftly dropped. Right as the door opened to where he could see his friends he watched them all fling themselves as far away from the imperials as they could, they were all very familiar with R9's questionable aim after all. The imperials were all blasted forward onto the ground and did not attempt to rise, except for the captain, who recognizing what was coming had flung himself forward as well, he rose with his blaster aimed at Azalin's back, who was already on his feet sprinting to the ship. Everard raised his blaster pistol at the captain and took aim, he fired and a flash of green seared its way through the air and burned its way into the captains shoulder, causing him to drop his blaster in pain. "COME ON!" ,Everard bellowed at his friends, the others were more dazed than Azalin but, Everard's unusually stern command got their attention and they stumbled to their feet and begin to race towards the ship as well. However, unfortunately the other imperials in the hangar had recovered as well and were beginning to fire towards the crew right as they began reaching the ship. The majority seemed intent on disabling the ship but more than a few deadly bolts arced their way past his friends close enough he was sure they could feel their body hair searing off as they filed one by one past him into the ship. He tried to return fire against the imperials, but he was basically firing blind as the blaster bolts ricocheted around him at the top of the steps throwing sparks everywhere blinding him. The last one inside was a tall dark skinned man Everard didn't recognize but the man grabbed him around the chest and pulled him inside as Rikki slammed his fist on the button, closing the door. Ely had already raced down the hallway, with Tye hot on his tail to copilot the ship. The remaining eight people were catching their breathe in the hallway immediately behind the doors until they were suddenly and harshly thrown into the wall and each other with an incredibly swift jump of the ship. After a rough couple of seconds the acceleration slowed and the crew was able to rise to their feet again, Everard assisted by the same man as before as Rikki handed him the cane. He hobbled his way into the main room throwing himself down on the sofa thoroughly exhausted, and shortly R9 was given the controls as the entire crew and the newcomers settled around him.

Ely reported with a mad grin on his face that they had barely cleared the hangar before jumping into hyper space, Everard while impressed was also quite sore from both hitting the walls of the ship and then having Rikki crash into him as a result to show his admiration however. The two newcomers introduced themselves as well, the man that had been helping Everard introduced himself as Jhulian while the small dainty woman with him called herself Ahri. They were evidently fellow smugglers set up by the empire in the same way as the crew of the Drakon. The group swapped stories in a moment of relative levity before Azalin's cold voice cut across the chatter, "I'm glad we got out of that unharmed, but we still have a pirate hostage aboard with no funds to show for it and we're dangerously low on credits." He turned to the newcomers and added, "Jhulian, Ahri you're more than welcome to join our crew seeing as the imperials will be after you now and they still have your ship" Ahri grinned and replied, "You guys saved our lives, we'd love to join you!" Azalin nodded his approval before turning back to the group, waiting for suggestions. Everard going firmly against his nature said, "We should bring him to the republic, they've placed a bounty on his head as well. Immediately the group erupted as he knew it would, until Azalin raised his hand calling for silence and said, "The only problem with that plan is the republic has placed bounties on our heads as well" "Obviously I know that, but we're out of options, the imperials will kill us, the pirates won't want him back and they'll kill us, if we release him he'll hunt us down and kill us, or we kill him either way we don't make money... Our only choice is to hope the republic will forgive our petty crimes in exchange for giving them a dangerous criminal." There was a long heavy silence as the group weighed their options. Finally after what felt like an eternity Ely said, "I don't like it, but the kid's right we need money and the republic is our only realistic shot to get it." Everyone else even the two newcomers muttered their solemn agreement. "So it's settled, set a course for Coruscant" Azalin said before walking off into his quarters and closing the door. Ely retired to the cockpit with his wife, Jen, joining him. The remaining members sat around casually chatting and checking out potential jobs or distracting themselves with other various things on the computers, all except for Raven who was busy fussing over Everard's wounds. "Do you know how much damage you could've done to your body pushing yourself like that!" Everard mumbled grudgingly, "Well somebody had to come to the rescue." Issei looked up from the screen in front of him glancing at Everard's cane and said, "Oh why thank you grandpa Eve!" his voice dripping with mock gratitude. "You know I could've let the imperials keep you" he retorted as the rest of the group chuckled, with Raven throwing up her hands and asking Issei not to taunt her patients. The crew slowly staggered off one by one heading to bed until the only ones remaining were Everard, the new guy Jhulian, and Raven, who had shown Ahri and Jhulian where their respective quarters would be prior to Ahri going to bed. Raven was fighting her hardest to stay awake, and Everard knew it was because of her concern for him. He nudged her awake and told her to go to bed, and she groggily agreed. Everard was only not in bed because he simply didn't think he could get up to go do it, Jhulian recognized this and offered him a hand which Everard gladly accepted. Leaning heavily on both Jhulian and his cane he finally made it into his quarters and passed out the second he hit the bed.


	4. Knights of Drakon: New Employer

Everard was gently rocked awake by the familiar hum of the engine, for one brief moment he was enjoying the comfort of his bunk and the calming sounds of the ship. Then he heard an ear piercing scream, bouncing down the metal hallways of the ship. Everard jumped in shock, jerking his eyes open accompanied by the tensing of the rest of his body, instantly the peace he had briefly enjoyed had popped like a bubble as reality came rushing back like a whirlwind, the stress of their current situation and the tensing of his body also brought the pain in his leg rushing back in force. The pirate was once again expressing his displeasure at his imprisonment, occasionally mixing in a bribe for his freedom followed by a threat when his requests went unanswered. Everard threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat there rubbing his face as the screams continued, a heavy pounding and a tall silhouette passing by his door and retreating down the hallway told him that Azalin had gone to take care of their malcontent friend. In just a couple minutes the noises had stopped and Azalin had returned with the man walking in front of him in a pair of binders, guided by Azalin's strong grip on the back of his neck. Everard dressed as quickly as his remaining damaged leg would permit, after putting on a pair of long brown pants to accompany a dark black pair of shoes and a long white shirt he put on his thin blue vest and strapped his blaster back into its place on his right hip. He brushed his long white hair out of his face, his family had always had white hair from the time they were born until the time they died. The men didn't typically mind but the women felt a sense distress at one point or another as they believed it aged them prematurely, he chuckled to himself gazing in the mirror as he thought about how his sister had whined and whined whenever the thought occurred to her. Stop it, he chastised himself, don't think about them. He didn't need any distractions today as he grabbed his makeshift cane and began limping out into the common area. He was the last one to arrive including the newcomers to the crew. Upon spotting him making the short walk Issei immediately got up and went to his side, gripping his arm to steady him. Everard was touched by the gesture, that was until Issei felt the need to open his mouth.

"Don't worry gramps I got you"  
"Shut up Issei"  
"Don't say that Grandpa we've almost made it"  
"I can still reach my blaster you know"

Despite their brief exchange Issei's help was much appreciated as he gingerly lowered Everard into a seat at the end of the long semi circle sofa the others had settled upon. Everard returned the concerned motherly glances of Jen and Raven as they cranes their necks about halfway down the sofa to get a good look at him, in turn he did his best to impart upon them that he was fine however he was afraid it looked more like a grimace. Azalin started talking almost the instant Everard had sat down.

"Once we enter Coruscant space, we're going to contact the authorities on the comms, I'll make the transfer myself as quick as possible and we'll be out of here before they recognize a thing, questions?"

His delivery was so crisp and confident Everard couldn't help but believe one of their plans might actually work out like it's supposed to for once. However a quick scan around the room told Everard his fellow crew members didn't share even a modicum of their leaders bravado. Jen and Ely were grasping their hands so tight they'd gone white, faces fixed on Azalin. Everard couldn't really blame them everyone aboard the ship, even the newcomers, had a warrant for their arrest in republic systems. Everard was staring down the barrel of a five to ten year sentence himself for various robberies and scams, but he was 19 Jen and Ely, in their forties, had been at this far longer and would likely never see the light of day again.

Nevertheless their little freighter hurtled closer and closer towards their potential imprisonment at the hands of the republic. As soon as they dropped out of hyperspace and the planet appeared below Azalin rushed out of the still common room and into the cockpit to try to get them on the comms. He came back a few moments later and paused before saying

"They want us to meet them directly at the prison, there's no going back now."

"Let's just hope they don't lock us up with this stupid son of a bitch" Everard muttered more so to himself than anyone, but nervous laughter broke out nonetheless. Everyone's nerves were frayed, tension was always high before a job but at least they knew if it was done right they'd come back free, their fate was to be decided for them one way or another today. As they dropped into the atmosphere, despite his nerves Everard couldn't help but marvel at the magnificent shining structures on this planet, a sparkling metropolis. They made their way across the city, passing the monstrous Jedi temple as they went. Everard has always wanted to visit the temple and join the order, but instead his first visit to coruscant might take place in the mushroom shaped building he determined must be the detention center. Ely, back at the controls confirmed his suspicions for him as the ship began to slow and rotate in preparation of lowering its boarding ramp upon the landing platform, as the ship turned Everard caught a glimpse of a dozen armed republic troopers in shining white armor with a bright red trim dancing down the creases, blasters glinting in the bright sun, Everard also saw a man standing in front of the row of troopers, dressed in fine brown robes, a tall regal looking man Everard could tell even from the distance. A Jedi. His nerves still stretched to their limits, got an infusion of excitement no matter how bleak the circumstances he had always wanted to meet a Jedi in person.

The ship settled down against the platform with a slight jolt, the exit ramp rattling and squeaking as it reached for the ground.

"I need to fix that" Ely muttered as he re-emerged from the cockpit.

As one the crew rose and went towards the ramp, Azalin in the lead escorting the prisoner out in front, with Everard bringing up the rear assisted again by Jhulian. They all stopped before the ramp where they wouldn't be visible to the troops down below even Azalin stopped for a moment and just for that moment Everard thought he saw panic in the hard etched face and glowing red eyes. Just a moment however, before he's stepped out into the bright evening sun.

There was complete silence over Azalin's comms other than the disgruntled groans and protests of the pirate as he was passed from the care of the Drakon crew into the presumably loving embrace of the republic jailers. Then they heard the voice that could only belong to the Jedi calling out "Commander you may go ahead and load their spice and credits" a couple of troopers made their way to the cargo loader, Ely dashed off into the cockpit again and the crew heard another rickety sound as it was lowered and raised again. Over the comms Azalin's voice came bidding the troopers fairwell and heard his foot clang against the metal ramp as he started to climb back up.

"Wait" Came a kind but firm voice from the ground Everard heard without the comms "We know who you are."

Upon hearing that the crew exited the ship as one lining the sides of the ramp, causing the troopers to raise their blasters in alarm. Everard was the last one out the door, they'd left him a spot just to the right of the entrance and he hobbled into position. The Jedi's bright green eyes settled on him for a moment flashing between his face, his hair, and his cane.

"Are we under arrest?" Azalin's cold voice called from the bottom of the ramp.

"Not necessarily." Replied the Jedi shortly

"Would you mind enlightening us to what the hell that means?"

The Jedi looked slightly affronted but spoke in a level tone nonetheless "We will allow you to leave this planet, but you will be hunted by the republic from nearly the moment you clear the atmosphere. However, I think we are in a mutually advantageous situation."

"How do you figure?" Azalin asked a bit of the edge lost from his voice.

"If you complete a job for us the republic will absolve you of all past wrongdoings and compensate you for your trouble."

Everard could see Azalin's mistrust of this robed man fighting with their need for money.  
"Alright we'll consider it what's the job?"

"There's a planet in the outer rim named Voss, the planet is embroiled in turmoil between its two inhabitants the Voss and the Gormak. The Voss are hunted by their neighbors and live relatively isolated lives in the city of Voss-Ka. The republic typically resupplies the city to compensate for its lack of resources, however in a bid to get the Gormak on their side the imperials have placed a blockade around the planet, not technically breaching their non aggression treaty Voss signed to maintain its neutrality. However, if the republic is caught trying to sneak past an imperial blockade the empire will be able to justify responding in force against the Voss people and forcing the planet to their side and into a conflict they do not want. That is why we need your people to bring these supplies past the blockade, your neutrality makes you perfect for the job. Will you help us?"

"We'll do it" Azalin said without a moments hesitation, an excited gleam in his eyes as he turned around to face his crew.


	5. Voss

The crew of the Drakon got a brief respite waiting for a separate transport to arrive with the relief supplies. Everard was leaning against the metal arms of the ramp's lift mechanism when the Jedi approached him, his hand raised casually above his shoulder accompanied by a crate drifting along lazily behind a few feet off the ground. Everard was losing an internal battle quite drastically trying to hide his amazement. He'd heard of the Jedi's ability to manipulate the force of course every kid had growing up, but seeing it with his own eyes was another matter entirely.

"Have a seat" the Jedi told him in his calming voice as the box settled gently in front of him.

Everard was in no position to turn down a chair as his leg, no longer causing him much pain, but had begun a dull throbbing fatigue. He gingerly settled himself upon the box muttering his thanks. Everard couldn't stop himself from feeling his nerves jangling under the considerate gaze of the Jedi, he glanced around looking for some support from his friends, but finding none. The others seemed to be relishing the rare opportunity to peacefully engage with republic soldiers, each group swapping stories between them, loud laughter often ringing out.

The swish of a cloak reverted his attention back to the Jedi who had taken a knee in front of him looking thoughtfully at the wound on his calf.

"How'd you come by this injury?" The jedi asked finally breaking his silence.

"Pirates" Everard said perhaps a little more tersely than he intended, but the Jedi was making him nervous. There was a sense of controlled but incredible power surrounding the Jedi that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"Ah yes, fair enough given your line of work" the Jedi replied along with a hearty chuckle. Immediately calming Everard's nerves. The ability to laugh at yourself was always a trait he'd always held in high regard when judging someone's character.

"How old are you boy?" He asked the ghost of his laugh still etched on his face.

"I just turned 18 recently"

"How did you come to join this merry band of smugglers at such an age? Are those your parents?" The Jedi pointing at Azalin, who was talking very loud and repeating a phrase Everard couldn't make out to raucous laughter, and to Raven who's face had gone bright red and didn't appear to appreciate whatever Azalin was saying as much as the rest of the group.

Everard quickly swallowed his laughter at the idea of being the offspring of the giant man with horns and the tiny woman currently trying to out-blush the brightest ruby.

"No sir my parents aren't here" he said eventually, hoping that would be enough to satisfy his curiosity this was a highly personal subject after all.

The Jedi gazed thoughtfully at Everard for several seconds and thoroughly making him uncomfortable once more, right before he looked like he wanted to say something the republic transport came humming into existence behind them before settling down on the opposite side of the platform.

The republic troops wasted little time breaking away from their conversations, unloading and loading the cargo again aboard the Drakon, each turning to salute the Jedi before walking off with their task completed.

"Well I hope we meet again soon my friends, stay safe and may the force be with you" the Jedi said before turning with a swish of his cloak back into the confines of the prison.

"Let's not keep the citizens of Voss waiting for us" Azalin said in a strong clear voice a manic grin etched into his face. 

After plotting course they determined it would take several hours to reach the outer edge of the Voss system, Everard decided to use that opportunity to rest his leg some more. He woke up what felt like minutes later to someone pounding on the sliding steel door of his room. He quickly got up and moved to open the door, he had made it all the way across the small room to the door before realizing the absence of discomfort in his leg. Smiling to himself at the thought of himself he the button on the control panel opening the door and immediately his smile vanished as he saw Raven's distressed face growing larger as she came into full view as the door slid open. Without waiting for a response she charged in, closing the door behind her once more.

"Uh... what's going on? Are you ok?" Everard asked discomfort growing.

"I don't think we can trust them. They're working for someone!"

"Who-?" Everard tried to get out before she hurried along.

"They might be imperial, but why would they have been prisoner's aboard their ship then?"

Finally fed up with his confusion Everard cut her off in much louder voice than he normally would have, "RAVEN! What are you talking about? Who is going to betray us?!".

At his words she finally seemed to recognize where she was and register Everard was not following her rant.

"Ahri and Jhulian I don't think we can trust them" she whispered.

It seemed a little late to start whispering after all that she'd practically just yelled to Everard, but nonetheless he was stunned at her words. Raven was not one to throw around accusations so liberally, and was trusting to a fault. On more than one occasion that he could recall she'd gotten him in serious trouble by having far too much faith in shifty strangers. By comparison Ahri and Jhulian were the most clean cut criminals he could possibly imagine. 

After a brief pause he gave her a skeptical look "They seem perfectly fine to me, Jhulian in particular."

"Shhh listen, I was looking for Ahri to ask if she wanted to come with my group when we get down to the surface!"

"If you don't trust her... why do you want her with you?

The question and accompanying look made her vivid pink hair look dull by comparison  
"If you'd actually let me explain!" She huffed indignantly. "I found her all the way in the back of the ship crouching behind the reactors on a holocommunicator, what if she's spying on us?"

"Don't you think you're being a little paranoid we're basically strangers, maybe she just needed some privacy."

Everard could see his words hadn't convinced the woman in front of him. "Look don't worry about it, we'll keep a watch on them, I'll take Jhulian with me and I'll get Azalin to take Ahri it'll be fine." With that he made use of his newly healed leg as he slipped past her and out the room, he could feel her glare burning a hole in the back of his head as he left her standing in his room.

Everard was gathered with the rest of the crew for the briefing, Azalin giving his best drill sergeant impression as he barked commands as quickly as he could draw breath. Everard had always suspected he was trying to emulate the rigid nature of the imperial captains when he did this, he'd mentioned that to Issei once before with Azalin within earshot. He was promptly given a very stern talking to about how Azalin was nothing like those captains. Thankfully, as this plan was fairly basic and Everard had a hand in planning it when he reported Raven's findings to Azalin he was able to tune the vast majority of the speech out. This was probably for the best as he was unable to get Raven's accusation out of his mind, this was so supremely out of character for her it had rattled him to the core. While, he hadn't had much time to deal with Ahri except for casual conversation during their travel to Coruscant he didn't think she could be all that bad, and he couldn't help but trust Jhulian, he'd been nothing but helpful to Everard. He'd almost become Everard's personal guardian, escorting back and forth all over the ship, helping him strengthen his leg and catching him when he needed it. He'd been a natural addition to the crew Everard couldn't conceive him being a spy of any sort.

Everard pushed the thoughts as far out of his minds as they could as the Drakon dropped out of hyperspace, the imperial blockade growing larger and larger as they approached the blue/ brown planet below. Almost the moment the monstrous grey circular battle station came into view a high cold voice, presumably belonging to a woman rang out over their radio.

"This planet is under imperial blockade, state your business here."

Azalin, without a moments hesitation replied "We're merchants, we finished a transaction on Kashyyyk we're simply returning home."

"You don't sound like you're from Voss" The now clearly suspicious voice replied.

"We moved here years ago to expand to an untapped market!"

Azalin's delivery was calm, but Everard didn't believe it was going to be enough to get them past the blockade.

"Stand by for scanning" The voice came again.

"What are they scanning for?" Issei and Raven said in unison.

Ely cleared his throat, casually leaning back in the captain's chair, "They're scanning for any kind of anomaly such as livestock if I had to wager."

The crew waited on bated breath for their results.

"You may enter the planet below, but from this moment you will not be allowed to leave." The voice finally came through hanging ominously in the air.

"Thank you very much!" Azalin said his manic grin returning, lighting up his stern features.

"That was... almost too easy" Issei said in disbelief.

Rikki breaking his silence replied with, "I don't think they particularly care about letting us in, we don't have a large enough ship to be smuggling too much in."

"Or maybe it's a trap." Raven replied, starring intently down at the planet below a frown tugging at the corner of her lips.


End file.
